Improvement in cultivators



BEVER & PRATT.

Wheel-Cultivato.

No. 42.64` Patented May 1o. 1x64.

N. PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHEH. WASHINGTON. DC,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E. M. DEVER AND IRA C. PRATT, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CULTIVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,646, dated May 10,1864.

. thereon.

Figure l represents a plan view of our machine.Fig.2representsasideelevation; Fig.3, a longitudinal vertical section.Figcis a front elevation of the guards and stock, hereinafter described.

Ihe letter A, in Fig. 1, represents the body or frame, which is made ofseantlin g of suitable size.

B represents the axle-tree, tothe ends of which the wheels D areattached.

O represents two pieces of scantling placed under the axle B andconfined to B by bolts. The scantlngs O extend sufficiently far in therear of axle B to support the platform E, on which the drivers seatFrests. The scantlings Oincline at a small an gle in the direction ofthe tongue G and reach a point near the junction of the tongue G and thehounds h, being connected then and braced together by the bar j. The barj is fastened on the top of the tongue G and the hounds h by means of abolt through each. The hounds hand the tongue G are tied together by twosimilar bars fastened in the same way-one near the outer ends of houndsIt and another sucientl y in advance of the rst to admitof the handleslc passing between them. These two bars are designated by the letters mand a. The tongue G extends as far'as bar m, to which it is attached bya bolt, as already mentioned. The handles lr, to the lower ends of whichthe shovels are attached, incline t0- wa-rd each other at a slightangle, are placed immediately behind the bar n, and are fastened to awith a bolt. Besides the lateral inclination of handles Ic, their lowerends are in advance of the upper, so that when the handles are inposition they are at an angle of more than forty-live degrees. Neartheir upper end the handles are bound together by a tie, O.

Prepresents ashaft, to thelower end of which the guard'wheels a a areplaced-one on each side of shaft P. The 'upper end of P has a slot initanda boltpassingthrough the slotinto the side of thctongue G. Bythcmeansof the bolt and slot, P can be raised or lowered, as the casemay require. As an additional support to shaft P, it has another slotabout its center, running at right angles with the iirst, through whicha bolt passes into the cross-tie s, the tie s binding the handlestogether at that point.

The object of the guard-wheels is to defend the young corn from clods atthe moment that the shovels on k are turning over the earth on each sideof the hills.

To one who is acquainted with the culture of corn, and knows how muchtime is lost by the plowman in uncovering the tender plant, the

advantage above referred towill be considered of great importance. Y k

In order to give additional strength to the lower part of handles 7c,they are braced by an iron rod one end of which is attached to astaplein k, and the upper end penetrating the bar j. The end passing throughjhas several holes in it, and by means of a bolt inserted into one ofthese holes the rod can be raised or lowered,

thereby increasing or diminishing the angle of the handles It'.

Trepresents two standards placed in the rear of bar m and bolted to theinner side of the hounds h. The standards T are adjusted at the sameangle as the handles k, and are braced to the hounds h with iron rods.The stand-- ards' T are designed to have shovels attached to themsimilar to those on handles 7c.

V represents a foot-lever, one end being near the drivers seat F and theother extending under the bar m. By the means of this lever, which ishinged to the top of axle B, the barm can be raised and the shovels onhandles k and standards 'I thrown out of the ground, so as to enable themachine to pass over obstructions that may be in the way.

It will be observed that in operating our cultivator both sides of a rowof corn are plowed at the same time, thus reducing the labor ofcultivation one-half. In addition to this our guard, as above described,performs its office faithfully and renders all stoppage on the part ofthel operator unnecessary.

We are aware that it is not new to provide a cultivator with a guard toprotect young plants from clods, and also that it is common to raisecuitivatorframes by means of footlev= ers 5 but,

Having thus described our invention, what and extending forward beneaththe bar m and we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. The 'rotary guards a a, mounted upon the stock P and employed incombination with inner cultivators, k k, in the manner and for thepurposes described.

2. The foot-lever V, fulcrumed upon the axle backward into convenient;proximity with the sent F, as und for the object; specified.

E. M. DEVER. IRA O. PRATT.

-Witnessem THos. WEBB, Sr. THOMAS WEBB, J r.

